So, I don't like to boast, but I am very good at finding things to be annoyed about. It is a real specialty of mine. I can hear 100 compliments and a single insult, and what do I remember? The insult. And according to the research, I'm not alone.
我不喜歡自誇, 但我真的非常擅長找到惱人之處。 這是我的一項專長。 當我聽見一百個讚美和一個侮辱時, 我會記得什麼? 那個侮辱。 研究指出,我並非獨一無二。
Unfortunately, the human brain is wired to focus on the negative. Now, this might have been helpful when we were cave people, trying to avoid predators, but now it's a terrible way to go through life. It is a real major component of anxiety and depression.
不幸的是,人類的大腦天生 就是會專注在負面的地方。 當我們還是穴居人時, 這點可能還算有幫助, 讓我們避開要捕食我們的動物。 但在現代,這是一種 很糟糕的生活方式。 它是造成焦慮和憂鬱的 一個主要因素。
So how can we fight the brain's negative bias? According to a lot of research, one of the best weapons is gratitude. So knowing this, I started a new tradition in our house a couple of years ago. Before a meal with my wife and kids, I would say a prayer of thanksgiving. Prayer is not quite the right word. I'm agnostic, so instead of thanking God, I would thank some of the people who helped make my food a reality. I'd say, "I'd like to thank the farmer who grew these tomatoes, and the trucker who drove these tomatoes to the store, and the cashier who rang these tomatoes up."
所以,我們要如何 對抗大腦的負面偏見呢? 根據很多研究, 最好的方法之一就是感激。 知道這一點之後,從幾年前開始, 我在我們家建立了一項新的傳統。 在我和太太與孩子們吃飯前, 我會先說一段感恩的禱告。 禱告不算是正確的用詞。 我是不可知論者, 所以我不是感謝上帝, 我是感謝一些讓我能吃到食物的人。 我會說:「我想要感謝 種植這些蕃茄的農夫、 把這些蕃茄載到店裡的卡車司機, 以及為這些蕃茄結帳的收銀員。」
And I thought it was going pretty well, this tradition. Then one day, my 10-year-old son said, "You know, Dad, those people aren't in our apartment. They can't hear you. If you really cared, you would go and thank them in person." And I thought, "Hmm. That's an interesting idea."
我以為這個傳統一直運行得挺好的。 接著,有一天,我十歲的兒子問: 「爸,你知道嗎,那些人 並不在我們的公寓裡。 他們聽不見你說的。 如果你真的在乎, 你就會親自去謝謝他們。」 我心想:「嗯, 那是個很有趣的想法。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Now I'm a writer, and for my books I like to go on adventures. Go on quests. So I decided I'm going to take my son up on his challenge. It seemed simple enough. And to make it even simpler, I decided to focus on just one item. An item I can't live without: my morning cup of coffee. Well, it turned out to be not so simple at all.
我是個作家, 我喜歡為了我的書去進行冒險。 去探索。 所以,我決定接受我兒子的挑戰。 它似乎相當簡單。 為了讓它更簡單, 我決定只把焦點放在一項東西上。 我們生活不可缺的東西: 我早晨的一杯咖啡。 結果發現,它並沒有那麼簡單。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
This quest took me months. It took me around the world. Because I discovered that my coffee would not be possible without hundreds of people I take for granted. So I would thank the trucker who drove the coffee beans to the coffee shop. But he couldn't have done his job without the road. So I would thank the people who paved the road.
這項探索花了我數個月。 它帶我走遍全世界。 因為我發現,若沒有數百個 被我視為理所當然的人, 就不會有我的咖啡。 所以我要感謝開車 把咖啡豆載到咖啡店的卡車司機。 但若沒有道路,他就做不到這件事。 所以我要感謝鋪路的人。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And then I would thank the people who made the asphalt for the pavement. And I came to realize that my coffee, like so much else in the world, requires the combined work of a shocking number of people from all walks of life. Architects, biologists, designers, miners, goat herds, you name it.
接著,我要感謝做瀝青鋪路的人。 我漸漸了解,我的咖啡, 和世界上許多東西一樣, 需要結合來自各行各業 非常多人的努力才能實現。 建築師、生物學家、設計師、 礦工、牧羊人,任何你能想到的。
I decided to call my project "Thanks a Thousand." Because I ended up thanking over a thousand people. And it was overwhelming, but it was also wonderful. Because it allowed me to focus on the hundreds of things that go right every day, as opposed to the three or four that go wrong. And it reminded me of the astounding interconnectedness or our world. I learned dozens of lessons during this project, but let me just focus on five today.
我決定把我的計畫命名為 「千分感謝」。 因為我最後感謝了超過一千人。 這計畫真的是讓人難以招架, 卻也非常美好。 因為它讓我能把焦點放在 每一天中順利進行的數百件事, 而不是出錯的那三、四件事。 且它提醒了我, 我們的世界中令人驚奇的緊密關係。 在這個計畫中,我學到了數十課, 但,今天讓我把焦點 放在其中五課就好。
The first is: look up. I started my trail of gratitude by thanking the barista at my local coffee shop, Joe Coffee in New York. Her name is Chung, and Chung is one of the most upbeat people you will ever meet. Big smiler, enthusiastic hugger. But even for Chung, being a barista is hard. And that's because you are encountering people in a very dangerous state.
第一課:抬頭看。 我的感激之路始於 感謝我們當地咖啡店裡的咖啡師, 我去的店是紐約的喬咖啡。 她的名字叫鍾, 鍾非常樂觀。 她總是帶著大大的微笑, 熱情地擁抱人。 但就算是鍾這樣的人, 做為咖啡師也很不容易。 那是因為你會遇到 處於非常危險狀態的人。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
You know what it is -- precaffeination.
你們知道的——急需咖啡因的人。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So, Chung has had people yell at her until she cried, including a nine-year-old girl, who didn't like the whipped cream design that Chung did on her hot chocolate. So I thanked Chung, and she thanked me for thanking her. I cut it off there. I didn't want to go into an infinite thanking loop.
所以,鍾曾經遇過有人對她大吼, 直到她哭出來, 包括一位九歲女孩, 她不喜歡鍾在她的熱巧克力上 做的鮮奶油拉花。 所以,我向鍾表示感謝, 她謝謝我謝謝她。 我就在這裡畫上句點。 我不想我們互相謝得沒完沒了。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
But Chung said that the hardest part is when people don't even treat her like a human being. They treat her like a vending machine. So, they'll hand her their credit card without even looking up from their phone. And while she's saying this, I'm realizing I've done that. I've been that a-hole. And at that moment, I pledged: when dealing with people, I'm going to take those two seconds and look at them, make eye contact. Because it reminds you, you're dealing with a human being who has family and aspirations and embarrassing high school memories. And that little moment of connection is so important to both people's humanity and happiness.
但鍾說,最辛苦的部分是, 大家不把她當作人來看待。 他們把她當成販賣機來看待。 他們把信用卡遞給她, 但視線都沒離開過他們的手機。 當她這麼說的時候, 我發現我也做過這種事。 我也是那種混蛋。 那一刻,我立下誓言: 在和人打交道時, 我要花兩秒鐘時間, 看著他們,做眼神交會。 因為那能提醒你, 你是在和一個人打交道, 他有家人,有抱負, 也有尷尬的高中時期回憶。 而那短暫的連結時刻, 對於人的人性以及快樂 都是非常重要的。
Alright, second lesson was: smell the roses. And the dirt. And the fertilizer. After Chung, I thanked this man. This is Ed Kaufmann. And Ed is the one who chooses which coffee they serve at my local coffee shop. He goes around the world, to South America, to Africa, finding the best coffee beans. So I thanked Ed. And in return, Ed showed me how to taste coffee like a pro. And it is quite a ritual. You take your spoon and you dip it in the coffee and then you take a big, loud slurp. Almost cartoonishly loud. This is because you want to spray the coffee all over your mouth. You have taste buds in the side of your cheeks, in the roof of your mouth, you've got to get them all. So Ed would do this and he would -- his face would light up and he would say, "This coffee tastes of Honeycrisp apple and notes of soil and maple syrup." And I would take a sip and I'd say, "I'm picking up coffee.
好,第二課是: 聞聞花香。還有泥土。還有肥料。 在鍾之後,我感謝了這個人。 他是艾德考夫曼。 艾德在我當地的那間咖啡店裡, 負責選擇要用哪種咖啡豆。 他去世界各地,到南美,到非洲, 去找最好的咖啡豆。 所以我感謝了艾德, 而艾德則教了我 如何像專家一樣品嚐咖啡。 那是個很了不起的儀式。 你要拿起湯匙,把它浸入咖啡中, 接著你要喝一大口, 且要發出很大的啜飲聲。 幾乎就像卡通裡的一樣大聲。 這是因為你想要讓咖啡 噴灑在你整個嘴巴裡。 在你的臉頰內側都有味蕾, 嘴巴的頂上也有, 你要咖啡觸及它們全部。 所以,艾德會這麼做, 而且他會—— 他的臉會亮起來,然後說: 「這種咖啡嚐起來有蜜脆蘋果的味道, 以及土壤以及楓糖漿。」 我會啜飲一小口,說: 「我嚐到咖啡。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
It tastes to me like coffee."
我覺得它嚐起來就像咖啡。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
But inspired by Ed, I decided to really let the coffee sit on my tongue for five seconds -- we're all busy, but I could spare five seconds, and really think about the texture and the acidity and the sweetness. And I started to do it with other foods. And this idea of savoring is so important to gratitude. Psychologists talk about how gratitude is about taking a moment and holding on to it as long as possible. And slowing down time. So that life doesn't go by in one big blur, as it often does.
但,受到艾德的鼓舞,我決定真的 讓咖啡在我的舌頭上 停留五秒鐘—— 雖然我們都很忙, 但我能騰出五秒鐘, 真的去思考它的質地、酸度、甜度。 我開始在吃其他食物時也這麼做。 這個品嚐的做法, 對於感激是非常重要的。 心理學家說,感激就是 抓住那個瞬間, 盡可能留住它久一點。 讓時間慢下來。 這樣,人生才不會像平常那樣, 模模糊糊地就過去了。
Number three is: find the hidden masterpieces all around you. Now, one of my favorite conversations during this year was with the guy who invented my coffee cup lid. And until this point, I had given approximately zero thought to coffee cup lids. But I loved talking to this inventor, Doug Fleming, because he was so passionate. And the blood and sweat and tears he put into this lid, and that I had never even considered. He says a bad lid can ruin your coffee. That it can block the aroma, which is so important to the experience. So he -- he's very innovative. He's like the Elon Musk of coffee lids.
第三課: 在你身邊找找隱藏的傑作。 今年我最喜歡的對話之一, 對象是發明了咖啡杯蓋的那個人。 在那之前, 我幾乎從來沒有想過咖啡杯蓋。 但我很喜歡和這位發明家 道格佛萊明談話, 因為他充滿了熱情。 他放在這個杯蓋中的血汗及眼淚, 我從來沒有想過。 他說,不好的杯蓋 可以毀掉你的咖啡。 它會阻擋香味, 香味對於咖啡體驗來說是很重要的。 所以他——他很擅長創新。 他就像是咖啡杯蓋的伊隆馬斯克。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So he designed this lid that's got an upside-down hexagon so you can get your nose right in there and get maximum aroma. And so I was delighted talking to him, and it made me realize there are hundreds of masterpieces all around us that we totally take for granted. Like the on-off switch on my desk lamp has a little indentation for my thumb that perfectly fits my thumb. And when something is done well, the process behind it is largely invisible. But paying attention to it can tap into that sense of wonder and enrich our lives.
他設計的這個杯蓋 有個上下顛倒的六角形, 所以你可以把你的鼻子放到那裡, 聞到最多的香味。 我很高興能和他談話, 那經驗讓我了解到, 我們身邊就有數百件傑作, 但都被我們視為理所當然。 就像我的桌燈的開關, 上面有個小凹陷處 正好方便讓我用大拇指按壓, 當一樣事物被做得很好時, 它背後的過程大部分我們都看不到。 但多去留意它, 就能發掘出來驚奇感, 讓我們的生活更充實。
Number four is: fake it till you feel it. By the end of the project, I was just in a thanking frenzy. So I was -- I would get up and spend a couple hours, I'd write emails, send notes, make phone calls, visit people to thank them for their role in my coffee. And some of them, quite honestly -- not that into it. They would be like, "What is this? Is this a pyramid scheme, what do you want, what are you selling?" But most people were surprisingly moved. I remember, I called the woman who does the pest control for the warehouse where my coffee is served -- I'm sorry -- where my coffee is stored. And I said, "This may sound strange, but I want to thank you for keeping the bugs out of my coffee." And she said, "Well, that does sound strange, but you just made my day." And it was like an anti-crank phone call. And it didn't just affect her, it affected me. Because I would wake up every morning in my default mood, which is grumpiness, but I would force myself to write a thank-you note and then another and then another. And what I found was that if you act as if you're grateful, you eventually become grateful for real. The power of our actions to change our mind is astounding. So, often we think that thought changes behavior, but behavior very often changes our thought.
第四課:先假裝, 直到你能真正感受到。 在這個計畫到達尾聲時, 我陷入一種感謝的狂熱當中。 所以我——我會起床之後 花幾個小時的時間, 寫電子郵件,發送訊息, 打電話,親自造訪, 謝謝他們在我的咖啡中 所扮演的角色。 而當中有些人,很老實說—— 對我的計畫沒那麼有興趣。 他們會說:「這是幹嘛? 這是老鼠會嗎? 你要幹嘛?你想推銷什麼?」 但大部分的人都出乎意料的感動。 我記得,我打電話給這名女子, 她在煮我的咖啡的倉庫 負責做除蟲—— 對不起——我是指 儲存我的咖啡的倉庫裡。 我說: 「這可能聽起來很奇怪, 但我想要謝謝你 讓蟲子遠離我的咖啡。」 她說:「嗯,聽起來的確很怪, 但你讓我十分開心。」 這就像是一種反騷擾電話。 受到影響的不只是她,還有我。 因為每天早上起床, 我通常情緒很不好, 但我會強迫我自己寫一張感謝字條, 然後再寫一張,再寫一張。 我發現,如果你在行為上 先假裝你很感恩, 最終,你會真的變得很感恩。 透過我們的行為來改變 我們的心的力量是很驚人的。 通常,我們會認為, 思想能改變行為, 但行為經常會改變我們的想法。
And finally, the last lesson I want to tell you about is: practice six degrees of gratitude. And every place, every stop on this gratitude trail would give birth to 100 other people that I could thank. So I went down to Colombia to thank the farmers who grow my coffee beans. And it was in a small mountain town, and I was driven there along these curvy, cliffside roads. And every time we went around a hairpin turn the driver would do the sign of the cross. And I was like, "Thank you for that.
我想告訴各位的最後一課是: 練習六度感激。 在這條感恩之路上, 每個地方,每個停靠站, 都會產生出另外一百個 我能夠去感謝的人。 所以我跑到哥倫比亞 去感謝種植我的咖啡豆的農夫。 那是一個山區小鎮, 我搭車前往, 車開在懸崖邊的彎曲道路上。 每次車開過一個髮夾彎, 駕駛就會畫一個十字。 我心想:「謝謝你這麼做。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
But can you do that while keeping your hands on the wheel? Because I am terrified." But we made it. And I met the farmers, the Guarnizo brothers. It's a small farm, they make great coffee, they're paid above fair-trade prices for it. And they showed me how the coffee is grown. The bean is actually inside this fruit called the coffee cherry. And I thanked them. And they said, "Well, we couldn't do our job without 100 other people." The machine that depulps the fruit is made in Brazil, and the pickup truck they drive around the farm, that is made from parts from all over the world. In fact, the US exports steel to Colombia. So I went to Indiana, and I thanked the steel makers. And it just drove home that it doesn't take a village to make a cup of coffee. It takes the world to make a cup of coffee.
但你在這麼做的時候, 能不能把雙手放在方向盤上? 因為我好怕啊。」 但我們到了。 我見到這些農夫,葛瓦尼佐兄弟。 那是個小農場, 他們種的咖啡很棒, 他們能賣到比公平交易價 高一點的價格。 他們帶我去看咖啡怎麼種出來的。 豆子其實是長在果實中, 這種果實叫做咖啡果。 我感謝了他們。 他們說:「若沒有另外一百人, 我們也無法完成這些工作。」 用來去除果肉的機器是巴西製的, 而他們在農場中 開來開去的收成卡車, 組成零件來自世界各地。 事實上,美國出口鋼鐵到哥倫比亞。 所以,我去了印第安納州, 感謝了製造鋼鐵的人。 我更清楚了一件事, 要泡一杯咖啡, 需要的不只是一個村子的人, 要做一杯咖啡, 需要的是全世界的人。
And this global economy, this globalization, it does have downsides. But I believe the long-term upsides are far greater, that progress is real. We have made improvements in the last 50 years, poverty worldwide has gone down. And that we should resist the temptation to retreat into our silos. And we should resist this upsurge in isolationism and jingoism.
這種全球經濟,這種全球化, 它也有不好的面向。 但我相信,長遠來看, 好的面向絕對大勝, 進步是真的。 在過去五十年間,我們做出了改善, 全世界的貧困已經下降了。 我們應該要抗拒誘惑, 不要縮回到自己的小圈圈。 我們應該要抗拒孤立主義 和侵略主義的高漲。
Which brings me to my final point. Which is my hope that we use gratitude as a spark to action. Some people worry that gratitude has a downside. That we'll be so grateful, that we'll be complacent. We'll be so, "Oh, everything's wonderful, I'm so grateful." Well, it turns out, the opposite is true. The research shows that the more grateful you are, the more likely you are to help others. When you're in a bad state, you're often more focused on your own needs. But gratitude makes you want to pay it forward. And I experienced this personally. I mean, I'm not Mother Teresa, I'm still a selfish bastard a huge amount of the time. But I'm better than I was before this project. And that's because it made me aware of the exploitation on the supply chain. It reminded me that what I take for granted is not available to millions of people around the world.
這就帶到了這場演說的 最後一個論點。 那就是,我希望我們 以感恩引發行動。 有些人擔心,感恩有不好的一面。 擔心我們會太感恩而感到自滿。 我們會變成:「喔, 一切都很美好,我好感激。」 結果發現,事實完全相反。 研究指出, 你越是懂得感恩, 你越有可能去協助他人。 當你處在不好的狀態時, 你通常比較會把焦點 放在你自己的需求上。 但感恩讓你想要把它再傳出去。 我有親身的體驗。 我並不是德蕾莎修女, 大部分的時候, 我仍然是個自私的渾球。 但我已經比在這個計畫 之前的自己更好了。 那是因為這個計畫讓我知道了 供應鏈上的剝削壓榨。 它提醒了我,全世界 有數百萬人得不到 那些我認為理所當然的事物。
Like water. Coffee is 98.8 percent water. So I figured I should go and thank the people at the New York reservoir, hundreds of them, who provide me water, and this miracle that I can turn a lever and get safe water. And that millions of people around the world don't have this luxury and have to walk hours to get safe water. It inspired me to see what I could do to help people get more access, and I did research and found a wonderful group called Dispensers for Safe Water. And I got involved. And I'm not expecting the Nobel Prize committee to knock down my door, but it's a baby step, it's a little something. And it's all because of gratitude. And it's why I encourage people, friends, family, to follow gratitude trails of their own. Because it's a life-transforming experience.
比如水。 咖啡有 98.8% 是水。 所以我想我應該要去 謝謝紐約水庫的人, 這數百人提供水給我, 造成了我轉一下控制桿 就有安全用水的這個奇蹟。 而全世界各地有數百萬人 都無法享受這樣的奢華, 他們得要走數小時的路 才能取得安全用水。 這鼓舞了我,讓我想試試看 能否協助人們更容易取得用水, 我做了些研究, 發現了一個很棒的團體, 叫做「安全用水發放者」。 我參加了。 我並不期待諾貝爾獎委員會 會來我家敲門, 但這是一小步,它是有意義的。 這全都是因為感恩。 這就是為什麼我會鼓勵 人們、朋友、家人, 循著他們自己的感恩之路走下去。 因為那是一種會轉變人生的體驗。
And it doesn't have to be coffee. It could be anything. It could be a pair of socks, it could be a light bulb. And you don't have to go around the world, you can just do a little gesture, like make eye contact or send a note to the designer of a logo you love. It's more about a mindset. Being aware of the thousands of people involved in every little thing we do. Remembering that there's someone in a factory who made the fabric for the chairs you're sitting in right now. That someone went into a mine and got the copper for this microphone so that I could say my final thank you, which is to thank you. Thank you a thousand for listening to my story.
不一定要是咖啡。任何東西都可以。 可以是一雙襪子,可以是一個燈泡。 你不需要跑到全世界, 你可以只要做出一點表示, 比如做到眼神交會,或是發個訊息 給你喜愛的商標的設計師。 比較重要的是心態。 要知道我們所做的每一件小事, 都涉及到數千人。 要記得,在工廠有某個人做了布料, 才會有你現在所坐的椅子。 有某個人進入礦坑 取得銅礦,才會有這支麥克風, 我才能夠說我最後的感謝, 就是要謝謝你們。 「千分感謝」你們傾聽我的故事。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
(Cheering)
(歡呼)